Month: July 2009

Why Would Saudi Arabia Shoot Itself In The Foot?

by Patrick Appel

Karim Sadjadpour posts a Q & A on the current situation in Iran:

[T]he country that has the greatest potential to influence internal Iranian affairs in the short term is Saudi Arabia. The Iranian economy is heavily reliant on oil revenue, and each one dollar drop in oil prices is nearly one billion dollars of lost annual revenue for Iran. If Saudi Arabia—whose relations with Iran have deteriorated since Ahmadinejad became president—were to quietly increase output in order to provoke a price drop it could prove devastating to Iran, far more damaging than any sanctions that are now being deliberated.

I don't see Saudi Arabia purposefully lowering the price of oil. And there is already an oil glut.

(Hat tip: Andrew Sprung)

Wiiii!!!, Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

In response to your recent post on uses of the Wii, thought I'd mention that the Wii is now being used as a real-live electronic musical instrument, particularly in electronic-oriented indie rock. For example, you can play really subtle, expressive percussion with it. Check out this YouTube demo to see what I mean.

Some other bands that I know of that use the Wii are The Notwist from Germany (whose electronic programmer Console controls the samples and effects with them in the live show) and Vivian Darkbloom from Boston (who's guitar player Rob Morris uses the Wii attached to his guitar to manage real time effects by moving the guitar around mid-solo. The quality and reliability of the accelerometers in the Wii has really opened up a new window for musical expression.

Is Mahmoud Mellowing?

by Chris Bodenner

Juan Cole writes:

Ahmadinejad appears to be signalling for the first time some willingness to compromise on policy. He just appointed as his vice president a young politician who had gotten into trouble last year for saying that Iran is a friend of the Israeli poeple. The president also appointed a new head of the civilian nuclear enrichment research program, a move unlikely to lack political significance.

Departing the Dish

By Conor Clarke

I expect this to be my last post for the Dish. I'm leaving for Argentina tonight, for a week of completely pointless wandering. I've packed one novel (the endless Infinite Jest) and I have absolutely no plans to find a computer or read an email or write a blog post for the next nine days.

That said, It's been great experience blogging here, if short-lived. (It's sort of like getting one of those invincibility stars in Mario Brothers: You can squish a lot of goombas and turtles, but you know in the back of your head that it's only going to last 30 seconds.) And it's been an especially great pleasure reading the many emails that I've received over the past few days (and responding when my carpal tunnels have been up to it). I hope some of you will join me over on my own blog, where I'll be back on July 27.